CHAPTER 1 An Introduction to Alteryx‘An Introduction to Alteryx 3 Li What Is Alteryx Analytics Platform? ‘The Alteryx Analytics Platform from Alteryx Ine. consists of two products; Alteryx Designer and Alteryx Server. Alleryx Designer allows us to build a data stream (or module) and run it locally. In addition to a base package, Alteryx offers datasets and tool packages to expand the product to enhance computing capabilities. These packages permit additional features like drive-time analysis when TomTom data is available. Alteryx Server has two main functions. The first allows users who have Alteryx Designer to publish applications for consumption. The second allows scheduled workflows to run without external intervention. The Alteryx Analytics Platform has solved two major issues affecting the data preparation process: time to run the process and high specialization of labor. Typically, the preparation process is highly time-intensive because it is largely manual, While automation solves the time required to run, it still requires personnel with skills in computer programming, This means we need additional resources allocated to every project, eventually raising the project costs and often preventing projects from being taken on. Alteryx, Inc. has elegantly addressed both of these problems. Ithas designed an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interfac where all we need to do is give each tool the appropriate settings This simple concept has allowed business users to develop workflows that meet their exact needs much faster than has ever been possible because it provides business people with the tools to design or modify a fully or semi-automated data preparation4 An Introduction to Alteryx a ction to A eee 12 Alteryx Gallexy The Alteryx Gallery is a public version of Alteryx Server where the community can upload interesting data streams, share ideas, and get ins}ired. The Alteryx Gallery can be accessed at gallery alteryx.com’ 1.3 The Alteryx Interface By the end of the chapter, the reader should be able to understand all aspects of the Alteryx Designer Interface and how to work with the product, Figure1-1 - AlteryxIntroFigure - Work‘low Configuration Above are the two things we may see when we open Alteryx Designer. The first image is the default for when the program is first opened. Alteryx Designer asks us what we want to do with the session. These options, fairly clearly, are to open up the basic tutorials, open an existing module, o open a new module. The second image is what comes up when we have previously selected the option Don’t show this again and always open a blank canvas. When using this option, Alteryx Designer always opens a new module. (For those who see the first image, please select “New Workflow.”)6 An Introduction to Alteryx _—————— eee Edit View. Options Help & New workflow CtrleN, Open Recent 4 ' > Open Workflow > Open Autosaved Files Save ates. Print Print Setup Exit Figure1-3 -File Dropdown The first thing we will do is save our module. Open the file drop-down at the top left of the screen, and select the Save As option as indicated above.An Introduction to Alteryx Rede x on [TR a esse en Figen dpe tie{An Introduction to Alteryx We can save our data stream as one of three file types. At a high level, we have the ability to save our data streams as: © yxmd Files saved in this format a: standard Alteryx Workjlow. data streams in a © yxwz Files saved in this format are data streams that R have been designed as Analytic Applications, which means they have user inputs and can be run on Alleryx Server. = yxme Files saved in this format are data streams that have been designed as Macros that allow the reuse of the data stream, Please save this workflow as The Basics,yxmd,An introduction to Alteryx 3 14 — The Interface. Figure1-5 - Alteryx Designer terface This is one potential view of the Alleryx Designer Interface, if every View option is on. The numbers represent each of the seven primary aspects of the interface. One through six can be disabled and will be discussed under the corresponding sections in View. The seventh is the canvas, where we build workflows.10 An Introduction to Alteryx nt re 15 File Menu _ Edit View Options Help Z new worktiow city |e Open Recent > ® Open Worktiow > Open Autosaved Files save cirtss Save As > Print Print Setup exit Figure-6 - File Menu e File Menu functions in the same way as most programs, with a few specialized options: New Workflow: Opens a blank canvas to work in. (Ctrl4N means that there is a Hot Key that allows us to use this action without opening the drop-down, Pressing the Ctrl and N buttons at the same time does ihe same thing as selecting New Workflow.) (Hot Key: Ctrl+N) Open Recent: Opens a list of the most recently opened workflows.{An Introduction to Alteryx a Open Workflow: Opens a file browser that allows us to open an existing Workflow, Analytic App, or Module in a tab of the canvas. (Hot Key: Ctrl#0) Save : Saves the workflow that is in the active was. (We will see the name of'the current workflow instead of ) (Hot Key: Ctrl+) Print: Prints a copy of the workflow. Print Setup: Opens a window that allows us to configure how the workflow will print if we choose to print out a copy Exit: Closes Alteryx Designer entirely. This differs from Close because Close will close the active canvas but Exit will close every open data stream. 16 Edit Menu Edit View Opti Dounce caetez redo ctely gout trex IB copy tree A paste Ctrley Delete Del Figure1-7 - Edit Menn Undo: Allows us to undo the steps just performed, in reverse order. (Hot Key: Ctrl+Z) Redo: Allows us to restore a step from what was undone, as long as we have not changed anything else. (Hot Key: Ctrl+Y)12 An Introduction to Alteryx eee Cut: Allows us to remove the selected items on the canvas while keeping a copy on the clipboard. (Hot Key: Ctrl+X) Copy: Allows us to copy the selected items on the canvas to the clipboard. (Hot Key: Ctrl+C) Paste: Allows us to take the most recent thing copied or cut into the clipboard and put it on the canvas. (Hot Key: Ctrl+V) Delete: Removes the selected items on the canvas, (Hot Key: Del or Delete) 17 View Menu Options Help ¥ Toolbar Cieteakes ¥ Toot Palette crear ¥ overviews Cteteateey © Results trib ater ¥ Configuration tele atec Y Interface Designer Ctrlsakt+o Find Too! cule Figure1-8 - View Menu Toolbar: Turns the toolbar on and off. When it is checked, the buttons on the toolbar are visible (1 in Figure 1-5). (Hot Key. Ctrl+Alt+B) Tool Palette: Turns the tool palette on and off. When checked, we will see the two rows of drag-and-drop tools (2 in Figure 1-5). (Hot Key: Cirl+Alt+T) 4 BAan Introduction to Alteryx 8 Overview: Turns the overview window on and off. When checked, we can see a high-level overview of our canvas (3 in Figure 1-5). (Hot Key: Cirl+Alt+V) Interface Designer: Turns the interface signer window on and off. When itis checked, we will see a window that allows us to modify the user interface (6 in Figure 1-5). (Hot Key: Ctrl+Alt+D) Find Tool: Opens a pop-up window that allows us to quickly find particular tools on the canvas, (Hot Key: Ctrl+R) 1.8 Options Menu Options Help TS schedule workliow View Schedules Run Analytic Apps Export Workflow Activate License Key ‘Manage Licenses, User Settings > Advanced Options > Download Predictive Tools Figure1-9 - Options Menu Schedule Workflow: Allows us to set up a schedule to run our workflow as long as we have Alteryx Server.4 An Introduction to Alteryx —————— View Schedules: Allows us to look at all of the scheduled jobs that we have access to on Alteryx Server. Run Analytic Apps: Allows us to run Alteryx Analytical Apps that we have created. Export Workflow: Allows us to export the workflow along with the packages that have been created. Activate License Key: Opens a window that asks for an activation key so we can use Alteryx Desktop. ‘Manage Licenses: Opens a window that allows us to look at historical license keys and see what we currently have available User Settings: Opens a window that allows us to customize the way the canvas looks and the way some of the default settings behave. Adoacnced Options: Allows us to manage aliases, workflow dependencies, and encrypt workflows. Download Predictive Tools: Allows us to download tools for the purpose of predictive analytics {rom the Alteryx repository.‘An Introduction to Alteryx 19 Help Menu + Help” @ alteryx Help véhat’s New Getting Started Sample Worlflows > Community ‘check for Updates Alteryx Downloads About Figure 1-10 -Help Menu Alteryx Help: Opens the Alteryx Help home page. What's New: Opens the Alteryx Help release notes for the version of Alteryx that we are currently using. Getting Started: Opens the Alteryx Getting Started page that is loaded in the beginning, Sample Workflows: Allows us to access the Sample Workflows that are shipped with Alteryx, Community: Op: the Alteryx Community web page. Check for Updates: Checks our current version of Alteryx Designer and verifies if it is the most recent version.16 An Introduction to Alteryx —— Alteryx Downloads: Opens the Alteryx Download page where we can find additionally downloadable content. One example is the US, Census data. About: Opens a window that tells us version, publisher, and serial number information about Alteryx Designer. 1.10 Samples Help ' @snerpe rele Tutorials > . Preparing Osta What's New one-Tool Examples > Fitering Data Getting started ses > : Blending Data Sample Workflows > ata Artisty > Analying Data Gomonnity Presentation Samples > 5 tecaton Anais ‘check for Updates Baaltic Apps —— Build 2n App ‘tery: Downloads iacro Samples 2 oe Bud 8 Macro 4 About Figure1-11 - Samptes Under the Help Menu, there is the option to open Sample Workflows. Depending on what we have downloaded from Alteryx, we will see different samples. These samples are good starting points to get used to Alteryx and to learn how to use tools that we do not know. Walking through the samples is beyond the scope of this book, as all of the samples are well documented and show how to build the workflow step by step. However, below is a picture of what the Preparing Data sample looks like before you begin to work with it.‘An Introduction to Alteryx ay ———— i Figure1-12 -Sample Tutorial 111 User Settings Under the Options menu, there is an option called User Settings. This sub-menu has four options. Options — Help ® schedte worktow Felt User Stings view Schedules © Save Layout & Settings on Est un Anabtic Apps ‘Save Layout & Settings Now eae Bestore Defaults Aatvateticense Key Manage ticenses User Settings > Advanced Options > Download Predictive Tools Figure1-13 - User Settings38 ‘An introduction to Alteryx eee Edit User Settings: Opens a pop-up window for the user to edit the settings affecting the way Alteryx Designer looks and behaves. Save Layout & Settings on Exit: Allows Alteryx to copy the settings we had when Alteryx was last closed as the default when we next open the program. Unchecking the option can turn off this functionality. Save Layout & Settings Now: Allows us to tell Alteryx to use the settings we currently have as the default behavior for the Program, This is most effectively used when we are not using Save Layout & Settings on Exit. Restore Defaults: Allows us to revert Alteryx Designer to the default settings 1.12 Toolbar Geb s#aAroeeaae Figure1-14 - Toolbar The Toolbar has buttons we can use to do the following tasks. It is the same as if we were to navigate to the paraliel options in the menus described above. The buttons simply make it easier to perform the most common actions. & Atows us to create a new workflow. (Game as File > New Workflow) (Hot Key: Ctrl+N) ® Allows us to open a workflow. (Same as File > Open Workflow) (Hot Key: Ctrl+0) FF Allows us to save our current workflow. (Same as File > Save ) (Hot Key: Ctrl¥S)19 {An Introduction to Alteryx % Allows us to cut our current selection. It is greyed out and inaccessible when we have nothing selected and dark when we do, (Game as Edit > Cut) (Hot Key: Cttl+X) © Allows us to copy our current selection. It is greyed out and inaccessible when we have nothing selected and dark when we do, (Same as Edit > Copy) (Hot Key: Ctrl+C) &1 Allows us to paste what we have on the clipboard. If we do not have something on the clipboard that can be pasted into Alteryx, we will get a pop-up that says Nothing to paste, (Same as Edit > Paste) (Hot Key: Ctrl+V) ‘9 Allows us to undo what we just did. It is greyed out when we have nothing that we can undo. (Same as Edit > Undo) (Hot Key: Ctrl#Z) © Allows us to redo what we just undid. Itis greyed out when we have nothing that we can redo, (Same as Edit > Redo) (Hot Key: Cul#Y) © Atlowsusto schedule the workflow on Alteryx Server. (Game as Tools > Schedule Workflow) © attows us to zoom in on our workflow. (Game as View > ‘Zoom In) & Allows us to zoom out on our workflow. Game as View > Zoom Out) > Allows us to run the workflow. Game as Tools > Run Workflow) (Hot Key: Ctri+R)20 An Introduction to Alteryx 1.13 Tool Palette &2@O2eeceo 8 Figure1-15 - Tool palette The tool palette is one of the most important aspects of the Alteryx Designer interface, It is the easiest way to bring the tools onto our canvas. In the later section below called Canvas, we will discuss the alternative method. ‘The three main elements of the tool palette are: * Search: Located in the top-left corner of the tool palette, this element allows us to type something into the bar, and every tool associated with that word is displayed in the Tool Selection. * Tool Categories: Located to the right of Search, this element allows us to access all of the tools grouped into categories that Alteryx has defined, We have the ability to add to this list by developing macros, which we will discuss toward the end of the book * Tool Selection: Located at the bottom of the tool palette and shows all tools meeting either the criteria of the Search or Tool Category that we have selected. There is one special category in the Tool Categories called Favorites. It is special because it does not have tools of its own, Instead, we have the ability to add and remove tools from this list by clicking the star at the top-right corner of each tool. When it is yellow, it means that it will show up in the Frvorites Category, When we cannot see the star unless we point our mouse at the tool, and it shows up grey, that means that it is not in the Favorites Category,‘An Introduction to Alteryx 21 Browse DateTime Directory Now Figure1-16 - Favorites ‘The arrows on either side of the Tool Categories offer the ability to scroll across to see each of the categories. We see that, by default, Favorites doesn’t follow this behavior. That is because itis pinned outside the scroll arrows. We can do this with any of the categories by right-clicking on them and selecting Pir . See the example below. Right click on In/Out: Br trontes ma ie BRAS oe oe Figure1-17 - Pin In/Out Select Pin In/Out: Qy Brivat ¢ — Faontes Oo { wovse —inpttate OupcrOats Teninot Aer Figure1-18 - Setecting Pin In/Out In/Out is pinned:22 An introduction to Alteryx eee Unpinin/Out —_‘preraratic ‘ Browse Input Data Output Data Text Input fiter” Formula 4 Figure1-19 - Unpin In/Out Select Unpin In/O: 4) Fortes Rg ivost OG & Browse Input Data Outpt Data Textinput filer Figure1-20 - Tool Categories We can see that certain icons show up on the Tool Category names, That is because each of the categories has a Default Tool. If we were to click on the Tool Category and drag it to the canvas, the tool in the icon is what we bring onto the canvas. Search all Tools 4 Favorites Bg ivout @ Prepe Help ut Dats Map Input Output Data <7 Remove From Favorites Open Example Show Deprecated Tools v aX Meta toto Figure1-21 - Tool Category We can sce in Figure 1-21 an option called Show Deprecated | Tools. Selecting this option shows tools that belong to outdated |23 ‘An Introduction to Alteryx versions of Alteryx. If we need a former functionality, we can access it here. Figure 1-22 - Additional Tool Categories All of these categories may not be available to all users because Alteryx has many additional packages that we can download in addition to the basic package. One example is if we had not chosen to download the Predictive package when we downloaded Alteryx Designer, we would not see the Predictive Category. We will only cover the basic package in this book, plus some downloaded content. 114 Overview Below is a picture of the canvas and overview window with a simple data stream that is too wide to see what is happening in the view of the canvas. The right side of the image is the Overview window, and it shows the view of the canvas in relation to the entire workflow.An introduction to Alteryx — Figure1-23 - OverviewWindow In addition to showing where we are, the overview window makes it easy to find the part of our program that we are interested in, because we can move the view of the canvas by clicking and dragging the white box in the overview window. 1.15 Results Window very time we run a workflow, we will get a series of returns that lets us know things about the run, One example of this is below. jnediei6a a [EBGoten comm ein Mitauge Er jal |p QSetanrste sttcdvmang ered at 4/6 RSP | Biman nese cite eon elu cea secetsknta sheets) Bumeowel sesiane natin es cons Secah ae Sees Sem | tncevenmtet nen ee Figure1-24 - Results Window‘An Introduction to Altery« 25 In this run, we can see that we had 0 Errors, 0 Conversion Errors, 0 Warnings, 1 Message, and 2 Files. The counts here reflect the eight notes we see about the run in the text portion of the Output window. We have eight notes instead of the six we would expect from the counts of the messages. ‘This is because the first note is that the workflow started to run, and the last note is that the module had finished the run. Even if we have no issues or messages during the run, we will still have these two notes because they are always written. The last message changes depending on whether or not we have any errors during our execution, The output window is important in diagnosing issues with the data stream. « Errors: These are critical failures that will terminate the data stream they are in. = Conversion (Conv) Errors: These are potentially problematic issues that stem from a data mismatch when converted from one format to another. * Warnings: These are things we should be aware of but could be expected, so the results are printed in the Output for us to know about © Messages: These are text in the program that are designed to print when certain stages of the data stream have been finished or certain conditions were met. Files: These are links that will allow us to open any file created during the running of the workflow 1.16 Properties Window The properties window is where we will spend the vast majority of our time. Every tool has a different properties window, and we will discuss each of them as we discuss the individual tools. Here, we will discuss the properties window of the workflow and connections.26 An Introduction to Alteryx ‘There is a pane on the left side of every properties window that has a universal set of symbols. We will discuss each of these as they first appear in this book. A list ofall of these symbols is in Appendix E. ’ 3 Workflow configuration ci te | ER) | wonton tine ens | ets Window a : 1 a | toutes feat | rrstatons Baw AllteryxFlelp | comectn nes an O57 easing Figurei-25 - Workflow Configuration— Canvas Tab Notice the button that looks like a wrench at the top-left of each of these properties windows. Selecting the wrench shows the configuration window so that we can modify the settings of the ‘ool. As we discuss other tools, the importance here will become apparent. ‘The “?" in the circle opens the Workflow Alteryx Help page.An Introduction to Alteryx 27 “The “V” at the bottom-left corner is an apply button. We can click this to apply the changes we have made, We do not need to click this button; we can just click somewhere on the canvas. 4) The first tab of the Workflow configuration window is Canvas. We have the ability to change three things in this window. * Layout Direction is a drop-down list that allows us to rotate our data stream from a horizontal layout, which is the default, to a vertical layout, which is the layout for older versions of Alteryx. We must set either Horizontal or Vertical and cannot use a combination of the two * Annotations is a drop-down list that allows us to change what the text boxes under Tools say. When this option is set to Hide, the text does not show. When this option is set to Show, the default text is shown for each tool. When this option is set to Show w/ Tool Names, the annotations tell us what the tool names are as well as the default text. * Connection Progress is a drop-down list that allows us to change when we see the progress labels on each of the tools. By default, this is set to Show Only When Running, but we can also set it to Hide and Show, which will never or always show the last run’s progress respectively.An introduction to Alteryx Pane A 1 eahecoee Figure1-26 - Workflow Configuration WorkflowTab he next tab is Workflow. + The Path (file location) shows up in this box when the file has been saved. * The Type aliows us to choose which format the file should be. This is also where we seiect the type of Macro we want to create. (This will be discussed in The Mermaid Coffee Company chapter.) * The Constants section allows us to define variables that we can use throughout our Alteryx Module.29 An Introduction to Alteryx a a i Ry cots mmr en [ons ser © oesanee [TE tgs terete Figure 1-27 - Workflow Configuration Runtime Tab The Rustime tab allows us to configure settings that impact the way that Alteryx runs. + The Dedicated Sori/foin Memory Usage allows us to set the maximum amount of memory that Alteryx is allowed to use for the Sort and Join functions, which can be highly memory-intensive. + The Temporary Files setting, allows us to define the folder that our temporary files are written to. + The Conversion Errors setting allows us to change the way the workflow behaves if it experiences conversion errors, including limiting them from showing up for each tool and stopping the workflow if they occur. * The Record for All Inpuis setting allows us to set a maximum number of records read from any of our input files30 An Introduction to Alteryx ————————— eee * The Cancel Running Workflow on Error is useful if we are trying to diagnose a specific issue in a workflow. * The Disable Al! Browse Tools should be set after we finish testing and the process is in production. We want to do this because browse tools are slow to create anid unnecessary unless testing. It is better to use this than to delete all of the tools because it will make modifying the workflow easier later. * Show All Macro Messages allows us to see the messages we are getting in the macro tools so that when we are running a workflow, we can see everything that may be an issue. * Disable All Tools that Write Output is useful for testing because we can turn off only the outputs so we are not rewriting the data every time we run the workflow. Fy] am women see et nea = if Events Tab The Events tab allows us to define events that will allow secondary actions to take place. When we add an event, we can choose to define a command line code or send an email when a condition is met, This is useful for security or maintenance because we can set up our workflows to let us know anytime the workflow ran or any time it ran with issues,31 ‘An Introduction to Alteryx ‘The Meta info tab allows us to define metainformation about our workflow. This is important when we are publishing a workflow to Alteryx Server or the public Alteryx Gallery. Figure 1-29 - Workflow Configuration Meta Info Tab + Workflow Name allows us to customize what we want the workflow to be called (independent of the file name) so that versioned workflows can have the same name, as far as the end user is concerned. + The Description is a place for us to describe what the workflow does, + The URL and Display Test fields allow us to identify where the module is published. © The Author section allows us to publish information about us and our company along with the workbook.32 An Introduction to Alteryx ——————— Connection configuration When using the default settings, connections are the curved black lines that connect one tool to the next. Connection - Configuration x A tome _ @ F vivetess fietas A Nome Tye Size, Souce Fi V.wsting 255 le: CheckData Sourcestookt si The Connection configuration twindow has three components | | | * Name allows us to rename our data connection. This is most useful when we have multiple data connections going into the same tool connector. * The Wireless check box allows us to make the connection | wireless (invisible) unless one of the tools it connects is i selecied, | * The Fields box allows us to see some of the metadata about ! each field in the data stream at this connection,An Introduction to Alteryx 7 1.17 Interface Designer : The Interface Designer is a window used in developing : apps and macros. This is where we get to design the user interface the end user will see. i Figure 1-31 - Layout View ‘The default tab view of the Interface Desi of the Layout View, which allows us to design the user interface ina graphical format. ner window is a34 An Introduction to Alteryx Figure1-31a - Interface designersettings The Interface Designer, like the Properties window, has a side bar that tells you what you are looking at. From top to bottom, the icons are: + Layout View, where we design the interface graphically. + Test View, where we see what the end user would see. + Tree View, where we look at the structure of our questions ina tree structure * Properties, where we set properties associated with the interface (this is independent of the Properties window itself). 435 {An Introduction to Alteryc 1 Group Box : = Label @ link t O Tab " Figure1-31b - Interface designer drop down In the Layout View, we design the interface and thus have a significant amount of flexibility in what we can do. ‘The first and most intuitive thing to do is move questions up and down according to the order we want them asked to the end user. We can do this by clicking the up and down arrows on the right-hand side, We may notice that while we are moving questions, they sometimes move within a box that frames the question we were trying to pass. This is because we have the ability to make one question determine if the other is also asked By leaving a question inside another, we make that question dependent. The next thing we can do is select the Add drop-down menu and see that we can add any of four things. Those things are: * Group Bor: a text element that we can put questions in. * Label: text element that we cannot put questions in ‘+ Link: a hyperlink in the interface. + Tab:a tab in the interface. When we are working with the Interface Designer, we will be opening up the Properties windows associated with whichever tool we have selected at the time. The following are the properties windows of the four objects described above.36 GOBSS GOES, An Introduction to Alteryx D)tabelsroup (22) - configuration vax ee 22)“ Configuration Ve AX Enter the text or question to be displayed: Group Questions Together Figure1-32 Label Group Configuration Label (24) - Configuration yax Enter the text or question to be displayed: Label Figure 1-33 Label ConfigurationAn Introduction to Alter 37 @ Link (23) - Configuration + aX Xl ro wy Enter the text or question to be displayed ink @3) Link Destination (Relative paths are OK Figure1-34 Link Configuration (Tab (2) - Configuration +r ax FRG]] enter the text or question to be displayed: @] tab1 Figure1-34 Tab Configuration As we can see, the four windows are similar, All four ask what we want the element in the interface to be called, and Link also asks us what link address we want to add to the interface. In addition to these questions, we see for the first time that we have three new icons in the side bar of the Properties window.38 An Introduction to Alteryx dg Figure1-34a Side Bar Icons + Navigation: Allows us to move directly to the incoming or outgoing tools. * Annotation: Allows us to change how thi and how its annotation behaves. + Messages: Allows us to look at the output messages specific to this tool. tool is named Navigation, annotation, and messages are part of every tool properties window, and they always behave the same Below are examples of a Check Box Navigation, Annotation, and Messages window when connected to an Action tool. "Check Box (3) - Navigation vax ‘Connected Tools (Double-Click to Navigate) Oa9R+ 8 —An Introduction to Alteryx 39 We can see that Navigation lists the tool that this Check Box is connected to, Action (20), and tells us that it is an outgoing connection, That means that the Action is downstream of the Check Box. If the Wireless box were checked, the wire would be invisible. We will discuss both of these tools, as well as wireless connections, in chapters Applications Wanted and Meta-morphosis. ‘ Check Box (3) - Annotation set vax A | Toot 0 | Check Box 3 ww BR awe BI Check Box) @| stowAnnotaion [Using Canvas Setinge 7) Place Annotation onthe Let Annotation i oO Figure1-36 Checkbox Annotation The Annotation window tells us that the tool is a Check Box and that it has the ID number 3 (which means it will try executing this tool-third if there are not outside influences). We then have the ability to change the name of the tool. We can change the annotation setting specific to this tool as well as provide a custom annotation (this will show up under the tool in the data stream).An Introduction to Alteryx ————— v Check Box (3) - Messages vax Show Messages From ) Last Configuration © LastRun Boers HoConverors 4,0 Warnings : Figure 1-37 Checkbox Messages The Messages window allows us to look at this tool’s specific output messages generated during cither the last configuration or last run, so we can investigate any issues while we are looking at the tool.eee Figure 1-38 Test View Looking back at the Interface Designer, Test View allows us to answer the questions in the same way that the end user would so we can test the app.{An Introduction to Alteryx Se a retro | Sees SS ole cee Figure1-39 TreeView TreeView allows us to look at our user interface as a tree structure so it’s easier to make sure our iogic is properly grouped.An introduction to Alten 43 onsen Run arate Asie do Co } i) on Sect Soa Rett Ur anes Co Destep ont wGnone [— 5 Lo Figure'1-40 Interface DesignerProperties Interface Designer Properties allows us to customize many aspects of our app or macro.44 An Introduction to Alteryx 118 Canvas This is what the default canvas looks like before we have brought any tools onto it. Figure 1-41 - Default Canvas We can see three elements: the tab name, a drop-down list of all of the tabs, and a white area that reads “Drop tools here.”f ‘An Introduction to Alteryx ' - Let’s see what happens if we follow the following steps. Open three new windows. Click on the third tab. Click on Window > New Horizontal Tab Group. Click and drag the fourth tab (now third on the top) from the top group to the bottom group. Click on Window > New Vertical Tab Group. We should see that our canvas has split into three sections and looks similar to the image below. ReNe Figure1-42 - Canvas with elements The ability to display workflows next to one another makes it much casier to test parts of a program. We can copy and paste portions between canvases to test, compare potential changes, or just work with multiple workflows at the same time.46 ‘An Introduction to Alteryx eee Moving the locations of window eiements The overview, output, interface designer, and properties windows allow us to move them, round the screen by clicking and dragging the rough part of thi/title bar (BG or **). When we do this, we have the ability to snap them into the window by dropping them on one of the arrows or let it float in front of the canvas or other windows by letting go of it while not over an arrow, Figure1-43 - Movement of Canvas Elements 1.19 Using Tools Data streams start with some sort of data source, and in most cases, this will be the input tool. From there, we may do a series of operations before bringing the data back together to look at. We will cover each of these methods in detail in the next chapter, but for now, we will look at the structure of a data stream,An introduction to Alteryx 47 —— eee This Alteryx Workflow takes input data from a file called Test.txt, splits the data stream (doubling the data), adds a new field to one sicle, and brings the two streams together to be viewed. * Notice that there are two types of arrows on the incoming (left) side of the tools. A green arrow indicates that a single input can be connected there, while a grey double arrow indicates that multiple connections can be made. This is important because it allows us to know how to connect items to each of these tools. We can see that there is no parallel tool on the outgoing (right) side of the tools, despite the data stream having multiple outgoing connections. This is because every tool allows us to branch the data stream off into many directions, We also see lightning bolt and question anchors, which we will discuss when we first use them in Applications Wanted. There are two ways to bring tools onto the canvas: We can either drag the tooi from the Too! Palette or right-click on the canvas and navigate the menu on the next page.48 An Introduction to Alteryx ee 1.20 Insert Tool Menu . Figure1-44 - Insert Tool Menu As an alternative to using the tool palette, you can right- click on the canvas to add toois using the Insert Tool Menu Simply navigate this menu to find the tool you are looking for